Sanjaya Attanayake steers Cavaliers to victory

Lanka Cavaliers led by Nalliah Devarajan regained the “Tyrone de Silva” Challenge Trophy with a comprehensive 110 runs win over the Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) Masters, in the 18^th Annual 25-Over Cricket Encounter, concluded on Saturday, 19^th March at the MCA Grounds.

Lanka Cavaliers sent into bat, created history by going over the 200-run mark for the first time in the series, as their top-order batsmen, Waruna Waragoda (35), Sanjaya Attanayake (84) and Carman Mapatuna (42) easily collared the MCA Masters bowling attack, to finish with a daunting 216 for 2 in 25 overs.

Poor fielding, 35 runs given away as extras and the tall overs bowled by Roshan Iddamalgoda (20 runs in the 21^st Over), Sanjaya Wijesinghe (20 runs in the 23^rd overs) and Rohana Dissanayake (23 runs in the 25^th over) helped to swell the total.

The mountain was too high for the MCA Masters, as they caved in for a paltry 106 runs in 20.5 overs, having little to offer against the intelligent bowling of Renuka Nonis (5-33-3), Brijesh Jeganathen (4-1-18-2) & Manoj Perera (4-1-19-3).

All 03 special awards offered, went to Lanka Cavaliers – Waruna Waragoda (Best Batsman), Manoj Perera (Best Bowler) & Sanjaya Attanayake ( Man of the Match)

The series tally now stands at 8- all, with the 2006 encounter ending in “Tie” & the 2014 encounter ending in a no-decision.

The awards were given away by the Chief Guest, Tyrone de Silva,  (MCA President 2003/04), Nalin Wickremesinghe (President / MCA), CPP Raj (President /Lanka Cavaliers), MCA Centenary President, Mahesh Wijeyawardene & MCA immediate Past President Rohana Dissanayake.

Chief Scores:

Lanka Cavaliers – 216 for 02 in 25 overs (Waruna Waragoda 35* rtd, Sanjaya Attanayake 84, Carmen Mapatuna 42 not out)

MCA Masters – 106 all out in 20.5 overs (Tarindra Kaluperuma 23, Namal Seneviratne 20, Mahesh de Alwis 15, Renuka Nonis 3/33, Brijesh Jeganathen 2/18, Manoj Perera 3/19, Krishan Dharmasena 2/9)